I took a trip to Fan Expo 2009 in Toronto yesterday and was left with the feeling that Doctor Who has to make some drastic changes to survive into the hearts and minds of the next generation of sci fi and fantasy fans. I found a handful of Who memorabilia in the HUGE dealers room, but I had to look for it. Apparently no one under 20 watches television that has actors in it anymore. They watch anime. More than that, they dress up like their favourite anime characters and generally eat, breath and sleep anime. There was booth after booth of this stuff. These kids are crazy, but numbers don't lie. There were some 300 odd Who fans at the Who Party a few months ago, a solid showing, but there were thousands upon thousands of tween anime freaks at Fan Expo, each one dressed as some obscure character. The producers of Who have to take note. The next Doctor has to be animated. He should have an adorable anthromorphic furry companion, a cat of some sort, or perhaps a fox. The new Doctor has to know martial arts, fight incredibley cute Daleks and Cybermen, and have dialogue that doesn't quite just line up with the movement of the characters mouths. The children demand it. The future demands it.
